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Will Marcus Smart return to the Celtics?
"I think he's coming back with the Celtics," said retired frontman Paul Pierce on ESPN's "The Jump" on Tuesday.
Smart, a restricted free agent, is He has the right to sign with another team, but – although he apparently has met with other clubs – he has not yet presented official offers. There was a report Sunday night regarding Sacramento Kings' plans to pursue Smart, although an offer sheet has not materialized yet.
If Smart ends up signing an offer sheet with a different team, Boston will have the opportunity to match.
The problem for Smart, as Pierce explains, is that "money is drying up". Most teams do not have the space needed to offer restricted free agents the amount of money that they are seeking to receive. Smart, for example, told ESPN's Jackie MacMullan at the end of May that he thinks it's worth "more than $ 12-14 million" a year. The Celtics, on the other hand, will likely try to stay below the league's luxury tax line by signing for less than $ 10 million a year.
"It's a summer where you see a lot of big names getting the money that they think they deserve," Pierce said. "When you look and see guys like Isaiah Thomas, Jamal Crawford, Clint Capela [and] they have no offers right now, it's just a free agency." from above have had their money, those who are stuck in the middle, there is more money. "
Smart can try to negotiate with the Celtics or sign his qualifying offer of $ 6 million.If Smart signs the qualifying bid, he will play the upcoming season in Boston and become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
"Many of these guys are going to have to face At the qualifying bid, bet on themselves, play the one year until next summer – where there will be more teams and more space for captains. Pierce said. "It's just the position that a lot of these quality players will put in this summer."
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